ATM Fees Are Falling to the Wayside Down Under

Ease of access to one’s own funds is certainly important to most consumers. While the motivation to do so may have been self-serving, its likely few Australian banking customers are complaining about keeping more of their own money.

CBA, the country’s largest lender which has 3,400 branded ATMs across Australia, said it would no longer charge withdrawal fees on Sunday. ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank followed suit, dropping the A$2 ($1.59) charged to customers of other banks for using their machines.

Australians made 259m withdrawals from ATMs belonging to banks other than their own in 2016, according to data from the Reserve Bank of Australia, equating to around A$520m in withdrawal fees. Overseas cards will still be charged.

While it is less than likely we’ll see a similar move by retail banks here in the U.S. in the near term, one wonders if the need to restore goodwill could eventually move the major players to take similar action.